2000 Domaine René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde

Easier to read than the 2001, the 2000 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is upfront and ready to go, with classic olive, red and black raspberry, iron and spice-laced aromas and flavors. Offering beautiful complexity, medium-bodied depth and richness and notable purity of fruit, drink it anytime over the coming 7-8 years.

To no one’s surprise, the most sexy, voluptuous of the 2000 cuvees is the 2000 Cote Rotie Cote Blonde. It boasts honeysuckle-infused black cherry and currant fruit in a dense, rich, opulent, aromatic, velvety-textured, seamless format. With no hard edges, this 2000 will be hard to resist young. it is capable of lasting 10-12 years. Rostaing’s Cote Blonde vineyard is sandwiched between La Mouline and Chatillonne. Rene Rostaing is one of the most masterful growers and bottlers of Cote Rotie. Sadly, there is not much produced. P.S. Pierre Rovani has raved about this wine in the past, and readers should not miss the Domaine du Puech-Chaud from the Coteaux du Languedoc. A Syrah-dominated red, it is a rich, character-filled effort made from Rostaing’s Languedoc-Roussillon vineyards. The 2000 was roaring from the glass when I tasted it in the estate’s Cote Rotie cellars. Robert Parker, Wine Advocate # 147.

Easier to read than the 2001, the 2000 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is upfront and ready to go, with classic olive, red and black raspberry, iron and spice-laced aromas and flavors. Offering beautiful complexity, medium-bodied depth and richness and notable purity of fruit, drink it anytime over the coming 7-8 years.||René Rostaing’s Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is the smallest production of Rene’s three cuvees (Ampodium, Landonne and Côte Blonde) and comes from his roughly 1 hectare (roughly 2.5 acres) of holdings in the Côte Blonde lieu-dit. This vines here were planted both in 1934, and then later in 1970-1971. It’s the only cuvee to incorporate Viognier, and this variety makes up roughly 3-5% of the blend. While René destemmed more in the past, today, he keeps destemming to a minimum and aging occurs in mostly older demi-muid, with 15-20% being new. There’s a scant 500 cases in most vintages, and it’s certainly one of the Icon wines from the northern Rhône. eRobertParker.com.February, 2015